Type-writing machine



(No Model.) 2 She'etsSheet 1.

B. A. BROOKS. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 463,724. Patented Nov. 24, 1891.

Vii/messes.

7i. 4. fiat/QM (No Model.) --2 Sheets-Sheet? B. A. BRQOKS.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. No. 463,724. Patented Nov; 24, 1891.

: nms ravens co" Pam-mutual, WASHINDTDN 0 c UNITED V STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BYRON A. BROOKS, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,724, dated November 24, 1891.

Application filed May 18,1889. Serial No. 311,290. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern).-

Be it known that I, BYRON A. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Machines; and I hereby declare that the following description will enable any one skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of drawings.

My invention relates to that class of typewriting machines of which the Remington is a well-known illustration, in which a plurality of types are set upon a type-bar and in which a traveling platen is vibrated to bring the printing-point on the paper under the desired type on said bar. A patent on a machine of this class was granted to me April 30, 1878, No. 202,923.

' In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated difierent mechanisms embodying my said invention, and I will now describe the devices illustrated in said drawings, as instruotions to those skilled in the art, and as examples of how my present invention may be practically utilized.

Figure 1 illustrates a front view of a typewriting machine, and Fig. 2 a side View of the same parts illustrated in Fig. 1, with others. Fig. 3 illustrates a side view of one form of shifting mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 2, A A is the frame or bed of the machine. B B are key -levers for shifting the platen. The upper part of this figure illustrates substantially the construction of the Remington typewriter. (J is the platen to which the ratchet-wheel D is at tached. Into this ratchet-wheel a pawl E, carried by the curved bar F, engages. This curved bar is pivoted on rodG. By drawing the handle F of the curved bar F forward, the pawl E revolvesthe platen to spacebetween lines, and when the handle F is released the pawl E rides backward over the teeth of the wheel D and falls into engagement with an other tooth, as shownin the drawings. The

platen-carriagelItravelslongitudinallyon the tracks J J, to present a new printing-surface after each printing impulse. Carried on the carriage I I is a secondary'frame K K, to which the platen is immediately attached, and this.

frame K K is mounted upon rollers K K which run on the tracks K" K, and is rigidly attached to an arm L, carrying a fork embracing therod M. Asthe rod M is caused to vibrate forward, it slides the frame K K forward on the carriage I I, thus shifting the platen at right angles to its axis to a new position, where the printing-point on the paper is under another type carried by the same typebar. His a lever for diminishing or increasing the throw of the pawl E to diminish or increase the'space between the several lines of print. N is a roller for keeping the paper against the face of the platen, and O is a paper-guide. P P is a well-known mechanism for spacing between letters. All these parts substantially are found in the Remington type-writer. A detail description of them here is therefore deemed unnecessary.

In the structure shown in Fig. 2 the platen is provided with means for shifting it from a normal position to two new printing positions, one in advance of the other. The Remington machine has a platenwhich is capable of occupying only two positions. I will therefore now describe the mechanism by which my invention is embodied in the machine illustrated.

Referring still to Fig. 2, Q is a bell-crank lever carrying at one end the shifting-bar M. This bell-crank lever is attached rigidly to the rod R and is held in the position shown in the drawings by means of aspring attached to its short end. To the bar R are also at tached two broken levers S S, each provided at its lower end with a slit, through which the key-levers B B, respectively, pass. The slit at the lower end of the broken lever S quite accurately fits the key-lever B, so that when said key-lever B is depressed the broken lever S turns the rod R, which tilts the bellcrank lever Q and brings the platen forward to a new position. The lower end of the broken lever S is provided with a slit deeper than the key-lever B, so that there is a certain amount of lost motion between the two,

and when the key-lever Bis depressed the rod S, through the same agency above described, moves the platen forward to a new broken rodS is necessary to permit the keyr. .r i I lever 13' to move the platen forward to the pos1t1on nearest the operator, because if there were not such lost motion and the downward movement of the lever B was limited both key-levers could not be depressed an equal distance, and they must be so depressed, as both are rigidly attached to the rock-shaft R. I have shown a stop T under each of the keylevers. These same devices are illustrated in Fig. 1, to make the construction illustrated more clear, where they are provided with the same reference-letters.

A different means of shifting the bar M to shift the platen is shown in Fig. 3. Here there is the same bell-crank lever and the same broken levers attached to the rod R; but in this case the ends of the broken levers S and S are pivoted to the key-levers l3 and B, and a different throw of said levers to shift the platen from the normal to the plurality of new positions is obtained by pivoting the broken lever S nearer the fulcrum of its keylever and by lengthening one of its arms, whereas the broken lever S is pivoted farther from the fulcrum of its key-lever and has a shorter arm attached to the rod R.

In Fig. 2 the platen is shown as held normally in the position farthest removed from the operator and is caused to approach the operator more or less, according to which shifting key-lever was depressed. In Fig. 3 the platen is held normally at the position nearest the operator and is caused to recede from the operator more or less, according to which shifting key-lever is depressed.

In each of the figures of the accompanying drawings it will be observed that there are at least three stops in combination with the shifting mechanism, in order that the platen at its three printing positions maybe stopped and accurately held in each. In the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 the platen is held in the position farthest removed from the operator, and the stop which determines its normal position is on the traveling platen-carriage and is indicated by the letter T. The stop T under the shifting key-lever B determines its second printing position, and the stop T under the key-lever B, or the stop T on the traveling platen-carriage, determines its third printing position. In the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 3 the platen is in the position nearest the operator and the stop T determines this position, while the stop T under the key-lever B determines its second position, and the stop '1 under the key-lever B, or the stop T on the platen-carnage, determines its third position. In each case there are therefore at least three stops in combination with the shifting mechanism to hold the platen in a normal position and to hold it when moved therefrom by the agency of keylevers to a plurality of new positions.

In the foregoing specification I have ncldentally referred to a few of the modifications which may be adopted in practlclng my nvention; but it will be understood that my 1nvention is not limited to thepreclse devices shown, as many modifications maybe made in the apparatus without departing from either the spirit or the scope of my lnvention.

Having thus described mechanism embodying my invention,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a shifting and longitudinally-traveling platen, a plurality of key-levers attached to the same moving part by which the platen is caused to move from a normal position to a plurality of new printing positions in the same direction, one in advance of the other, corresponding with the positions of the several types on the type-bars, so as to print all in line, a shifting-bar, and mechanism, substantially as described, for returning the platen to its normal position, for arresting 1t, and for holding it there.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a shifting and longitudinally-traveling platen, a plurality of shifting key-levers by which it is caused to move from a normal printing position to a pluralityof new pr1nting positions in the same direction, one in advance of the other, corresponding with the position of the several types on the type-bars, so as to print all in line, a shifting-bar, and spring mechanism operating to return the platen to its normal position.

3. In a type-writing machine, the combination of type-bars holding more than two types, a shifting and lon gitudinally-travelin g platen, a plurality of shifting key-levers by WhlCll it is caused to move from a normal printing position to a plurality of new printing positions in the same direction, one in advance of the other, corresponding to the position of the several types on the type-bars, so as to print all in line, three or more stops for determining its several printing positions, and means, substantially as described, for automatically returning it to its normal position when said shifting key-levers are released.

at. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a shifting and longitudinally-traveling platen, a shifting-bar to which it is connected, a plurality of shifting key-levers, a rod connecting each of said lovers to said shifting-bar, one of said rods being provided with an elongated slot through which its key-levers pass, substantially as described.

5. In a type-writing machine, the combination of type-bars holding more than two types,

a shifting and longitudinally-traveling platen, a plurality of shifting key-levers attached to the same moving part by which the platen is caused to move from a normal printing position to a plurality of new printing positions in the same direction, one in advance of the other, corresponding With the positions of the several types on the type-bars, so as to print 

